Duck Duck Gooze | The Lost Abbey

Notes / Commercial Description:
In Belgian brewing there are fantastic wild ales brewed with naturally occurring yeast. These beers develop over time and are ready on their own terms. Duck Duck Gooze is our homage to these effervescent and wonderfully complex sparkling beers.

A blend of young and old barrel aged beers, this has been one of our most sought after beers year after year since it’s original release in 2009.

Alas, it is released in very small quantities only once every three years, so it’s extremely difficult to come by beyond the day we release it. It does, however, turn up on our Tasting Room’s Vintage List from time to time, so don’t despair.

Clear golden, off white head, minimal lacing. Acetic, brett, lemon, apple, and oak. Up front acetic bite with a sharp lemon peel, very bright taste. Light body, medium carbonation, slightly tannic, and dry finish. I never had it fresh, but from other reviews it seems the acetic character is starting to take over. IP still wins in complexity, this lacks depth.

Slightly hazy, golden yellow color, with a bubbly white head that sank to a ringlet, leaving some spots of lacing on the glass; Champagne-like carbonation bubbling from the glass bottom. A lot going on in the nose, mainly funkadelics, earthy, bretty, aromas of horseblanket, lemon zest and apple peel, leaving no doubt that this will have some sourness to it. Very acidic on the palate, almost too much actually, nearly wrecking. After adjusting for a moment or two, out come flavors of acidic citrus and sour stone fruits, lemon drops, lesser notes of earthy funk, horseblanket, distant crackery malts. Dry and crisp mouthfeel, medium body, and--if you conquer that initial blast of palate-wrecking acidity--a pretty easy drinker for the style. Pretty good overall, but not worth trading an arm and a leg for.

A- Nice ivory head - very active. About 1cm tall. Settles quickly on a base that's anywhere from goldenrod to orange with amber highlights depending on how you look at it. Great color.

S- Fruity, floral. Not much in the way of 'funk'. Maybe a little brett.

T- Lemon tartness, a bit of saltiness and a wash of acidity. White wine in parts, green apples.. a bit peppery. Not terribly funky. Dregs blended with the final glass- Substantially more cheesy horse blanket notes.

M- Great carbonation, mild. Light on the tongue, finish is moderately dry.

D- Very high. This is a fantastic beer. Easy to drink, great flavors, hope to see this one again.

Sampled at the FoBAB 2009. The pour is a bright and clean golden color with a big billowing white head. Both the nose an flavor feature lots of cheesy and tart character and light oak character all throughout this . Yummy stuff that is certainly worth being sought after.

Poured into a RR Sour glass. Crystal clear golden with a perky little white head. Very delicate with a few fizzy bubbles, but other wise fluffy.

Vinegar whiffs on the aroma, leather saddle, peed on horse hay.

Fruity tartness up front, grapefruit and white grapes. Vinegar sourness to go along with the tart. Not overwhelming in the least. Nice oak funk riding through the middle. Fragrant sour in the back, yet right in line with the flavor spectrum. Amoeba lacing up high on the glass, half way down. Somewhat dry mouthfeel, tart, nice.

T: Lemon-lime tartness up front, followed by melon, grapefruit, and harsh, pure sourness - mostly lactic, a faint hint of acetic. Really tasty, but a bit one-sided in favor of fruity sourness. Not as much funk as I'd like.

M: Fairly light-bodied with nice, lively, fine carbonation.

O: This is undoubtedly a terrific American take on the style, but it really suffered in comparison to some of the Belgians on display during the tasting (e.g. all four Armand'4s, A&T blend, Crianza Helena, 50ºN4ºE, '98 LP Gueuze, etc, etc, etc). I really enjoyed the melon character and intense sourness, but complexity was sorely lacking compared to the Old World funk bombs. If you like sours, don't hesitate to seek this out - but don't feel you have to empty out your cellar in order to land it, either.

T: Sweet Granny Smith apples with balance of tart and sour. Lots of oak and lemon zest with hints of funk and barnyard, but I wish there were more of this. This aspect of the beer is here and gone too quickly - I want a gueuze to be very distinct and memorable and this is not. Sad.

M: Light bodied with soft carbonation. Crisp and dry.

O: I'll be honest, I had really high hopes for this and it was a bit of a letdown. Definitely worth seeking out, but I'm not too crazy about it. I would like to give it another try, but there are plenty of other gueuzes out there that are readily more available and taste better. I think the big thing for me is that this is more mellow that a lot of other ones in this style. Maybe it needs a bit more age, but only time will tell.

Have tried this beer on several occasions, so figured I might as well review it. It's beers like this that convince I'm just not much of a sour lover.

The beer pours a golden amber color with very good retention and considerable lacing. The nose is pretty one dimensional in my opinion, though if you're a sour lover, I guess it's great. I r eally pick up considerable lemon lime, but with some noticeable vinegar as well. It's a presage of what's to come on the palate, as I get mouth stingin lemon and lime acidity, albeit with some noticable underlying grape as well. Still, the sour component really dominates in this beer, and it's almost painful drinking this. Mouthfee lis medium bodied at most, with a long, sour, acidic finish. Alcohol is very well integrated into the flavor profile, and so if sours are your bag, I'm sure you'd be in heaven with this stuff.

Have had this several times now, and I'm able to appreciate it more than I first did when I sampled it with some friends in DC years ago, but this still is just too much sour for my palate to handle. That being said, this is always a fun and interesting beer to sample, and it's amazing the amount of flavor it delivers.